Category: Featured
(Fortune) The H5N1 strain of avian flu responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of birds in the U.S. in recent months, and countless more worldwide, poses an existential threat to the poultry industry in the U.S.—and a potentially widespread human health threat, experts say. The strain—first identified in domestic waterfowl in China in […]
Jan 24, 2023
The doctor won’t see you now: Covid winters are making long hospital waits the new normal
(Washington Post) As the United States enters its third full covid winter, a top administration official is warning that the permanence of the coronavirus in the disease landscape could mean brutal and long-lasting seasonal surges of cold-weather illnesses for years to come, resulting in hospitals struggling to care for non-covid emergencies and unable to give patients timely, lifesaving treatments. Winter […]
Jan 17, 2023
(NYT) Some of the worst days of Covid in the U.S. have come as winters have settled in, and surges led hospitals to overflow and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths. A comparable surge has yet to materialize on a similar timeline this winter. By now, hospitalizations in particular would have started to sharply rise. […]
Jan 17, 2023
WHO recommends that China monitor excess COVID-19 mortality
(Reuters) The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday it recommended that China monitor excess mortality from COVID-19 to gain a fuller picture of the impact of the surge in cases there.
Jan 17, 2023
China Reports Nearly 60,000 Covid-Linked Deaths Since Lifting Restrictions
(NYT) The unexpected disclosure was made as the country faces mounting criticism for providing unreliable data on its latest coronavirus outbreak.
Jan 17, 2023
China’s COVID surge prompts CDC to expand a hunt for new variants among air travelers
(NPR) It’s early morning at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C.,and Ana Valdez is already hard at work at one of the international gates. “Hello everybody. Welcome,” she shouts with a big smile as arriving travelers flood through two large swinging doors. “Do you like to help the CDC to find new variants for COVID?” […]
Jan 14, 2023
Inside the High-Security Lab Where Scientists Are Fighting the Next Pandemic
(Washingtonian) We visited a military facility that works with some of the world’s scariest pathogens. When you roll up to the military’s premier biodefense lab, the security situation is intense. USAMRIID—the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases—is a complex of buildings at Maryland’s Fort Detrick, surrounded by a scary black fence. Along the […]
Jan 10, 2023
China’s Covid-19 Infections Hit Peak in Populous Regions, Officials Say
(WSJ) (Video at the link )Some of China’s most populous provinces have passed the peak in the current wave of Covid-19 infections sweeping across the country, officials said Monday. In central China’s Henan province, 89% of the 100 million residents had already been infected by the Omicron variants by Friday, said Kan Quancheng, director of the provincial health commission. Link […]
Jan 10, 2023
This Is What Shanghai’s Covid Outbreak Looks Like
(New York Times) Shanghai is being gripped by China’s massive Covid wave, leading to a surge in hospitalizations and crowded funeral homes. Local health officials said last week that up to 70 percent of the city’s 26 million residents had been infected, and they expressed confidence that its outbreak had peaked. But many of the city’s hospitals are […]
Jan 10, 2023
Satellite images capture crowding at China’s crematoriums and funeral homes as Covid surge continues
(CNN) Satellite images taken over a number of Chinese cities have captured crowding at crematoriums and funeral homes, as the country continues its battle with an unprecedented wave of Covid-19 infections following its dismantling of severe pandemic restrictions. The images – taken by Maxar in late December and early January and reviewed by CNN – show a […]
Jan 10, 2023
